Students, faculty honored for exceptional achievements
 at annual Hooding Ceremony

                                                                                                        Posted 05/10//2007

The Arnold School of Public Health recognized exceptional achievements by students and faculty during the 2007 Hooding Ceremony on May 10 at the Koger Center for the Arts.

The school also acknowledged new members of the Mu Chapter of the Delta Omega Society, the national honorary public health society.

Jelani C. Kerr of the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, was presented the Jeffrey Keith Mattison Outstanding Achievement Award.

This award is presented each year to the master's level graduating student who best exemplifies the special characteristics of Jeffrey Keith Mattison, an epidemiology and biostatistics student who died in the fall of 1987.

Kerr serves as a mentor through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, tutors two students from local schools and is assisting in a five-year project on HIV Prevention for High Risk African American Youth.

Kerry McIver of the Department of Exercise Science was selected for the Doctoral Achievement Award.

McIver, who is working to complete her PhD this year and is the lead author of one refereed journal article and has co-authored 11 others. She has served as president of the Arnold School’s Student Association and co-chair of the Dean’s Student Advisory Council. She is a recent winner of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Study presented by the dean of the USC Graduate School.

The James A. Keith Excellence in Teaching Award went to Dr. Angela Liese, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Liese was nominated for her quality performance in teaching and graduate student mentorship. Her student and peer-review evaluations were outstanding. Her students have presented at national meetings and nine publications list  her students as primary author.

Dr. Sara Wilcox, an associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science, won the Faculty Research Award.

Wilcox was nominated on the strength of a consistent focus on doing work that improves health.  She works on interventions in real life settings and strives to translate theory and research finding into effective community-based programs.

Dr. Charles E. Feigley, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, was the recipient of the Faculty Service Award.

Feigley’s nomination notes his outstanding record of collaborative research both inside and outside his department and the Arnold School.  He is regularly called on to mentor junior faculty as they try to get their own research efforts under way.

Eighteen new members of the Delta Omega Society also were recognized.

Founded at the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University in 1924, Delta Omega is equivalent to Phi Beta Kappa for undergraduate studies in letters.

New alumni members were: Forrest Alton, Sherry D. Bullock, Linda J. Hazlett, Suzanne E. Henson, Deborah M. Hurley, Melinda Irwin, Jason S. Jurkowski, and Rebekah Sagan.

Student members were: Alice P. Batson, Valeria P. Carlson, Kimberly Nichols Dauner, Holly Harring, Holly Pope, Michael G. Smith, Sara E. Wagner, and Marcie S. Wright.

Faculty members were: Drs. Steven N. Blair and James N. Laditka.

Individual departments of the Arnold School of Public Health also presented honors, including: 

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders: Julie Weber, 2007 Outstanding Student Award in COMD; Coleman Blackwelder, 2007 Outstanding Student Award in COMD via Distance Education.

Department of Environmental Health Sciences: 2007 Outstanding Graduate,   Michelle Johnston.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics: Alexa Gallagher, Outstanding Epidemiology Student; Bo Ma, Outstanding Biostatistics Student. Deborah Beihl, Forest Creek Academy Homeschool, Saluda, S.C.; Outstanding Epidemiological Student Research and Regional Finalist, Young Epidemiology Scholars.

Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior: 2007 Masters Student of the Year Award, Tina Marie Devlin; 2007 Doctoral Student of the Year Award, Kimberly Nichols Dauner.

Department of Health Services Policy and Management: Charlotte Hickman, Michael D. Jarrett Scholarship; Asha Hampton, Susie B. Yates Award; V. James Guillory, DO, MPH, FACPM, Michael E. and Sandra P. Samuels Distinguished Alumni Award.

Department of Exercise Science: Outstanding Doctoral Student Award (co-winners), Kristen Baltgalvis and Kerry McIver.

The school also awarded Certificates of Appreciation to students for their contributions to the Dean’s Student Advisory Council: Mary Syfan, Jack Schultz, Jessica Blanks, Will Klauber, Kamala Swayampakala, Rui Liu, Benji McCollum, Susan Fulkerson, Chris Kline, Monica Brahmbhatt, Andy Johnson, Tina Devlin, Kelli Kenison, and Erin Combs.